Flexible shaft



Aug. 27, 1935. J, B. WHITTED FLEXI BLE SHAFT Filed March 28, 1934 5'fara/f j M 0 J Y/w` am. mwwmwhwm@ @www w Patented Aug. 27, 1935 STATES;

i Y f aolasjziz' *FLEXIBLE sim-Fr i. .'John Whitted, Evanston,- lll.,assign(jr'J `1,0:v Y

` `Stewart-VlarnerY Corportcx'r,` Chicago, lvIll?, a y corporationiofVirginia' f 'hisfinventionrelates to improvements in flex ible` shaftsof the type", which may lbe used, for

example;-,as a `flexible drive shaft for ai Windshield .z Mylinventionisanimprovement over theflexvible driver shaft for `windshield wipersshown in my prior application Serial No. 692,911, led October 9, ,1933;

It is an object of my invention toprovide a i exibleshaft in which therotatable core .will rim:

silentlywithin theilexible sheath thereof.

It is.. further an object ofv my invention to provide afrotatablecorefor a flexible shaft comprising aninner core ofV tightly twisted.strandsv of e steel wire enclosed Within afabric coveringy and toprovide a flexible metallic sheath for housing the rotatable core.; i, ll

A still further object of my invention is to provide a flexible shaftwhich is lubricated within its sheath by utilizing as a rotatable core aFigure l is an elevation of one end of the rotatable core and thedrive'tip therefor, showing, in section, a portion of the flexiblesheath and a connected ferrule;

Figure 2 is a similar .view of the other end of the flexible shaft;

Figure 3 is a section `on the plane indicated 40 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section on the plane indicated 4 4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a section on the plane indicated 5-5 in Figure 1.

The flexible inner core I0 is made up in the conventional manner oftightly twisted strands of steel wire. Over this metal core I0 istightly. WovenV a fabric covering or jacket I2, composed of strands ofcotton thread. This jacket I2 may be woven in any well-known manner bythe use 'of a looming machine. Although this fabric covering or jacketI2 is woven Very tightly about the steel core IIJ, it would neverthelesstend to ravel and come loose if suitable steps were not taken to holdthe fabric in place. I provide af square section, las lindicated fat Iv.in Figur brass4 sleeves I4, one ateachfendofftheilexible` shaft. Thesleeves I4 are rst, slipped over the;

ends of the fabric covered rotatable core; The` I fabriccovering I2isitherr pushed.backtoexpcgfseJ the endsof the steel core I0. Each: endof.the ;l 5

steel corel is thenA placed` ina' die and-'pressed 110.1l

Apdriveytip or driving member 4.I8 is-,connected toene endof thesteelfcoreandra driven lmemberv 20 is attached to the other end ,o f,ythek steel corel',

Each ofthesedrive ltipspr membersgjj andJIl v Y isfprovidedwith a socket,22;to. receive ythesguarell endvIBi-of. the metal core I-.I)."Eachl of,the tips isy rigidly "securedito'the metal core IIJ beine crimped inplaceyas indicated. crimped; squared section, 2,41 and asclearly shoFig-'ure 5. y'-Ehepfebri .covering I 2;, `has been pushed back, is nowreturned to place and the excess material cut off so that each end 26lof the fabric covering I2 is adjacent tothe end 20 of the correspondingdrive tipV I8 or 20. Bach of -l the brass sleeves I4 is then moved untilit is close to the drive tip. The brass-sleevesv I4 may then be crimpedtightly to the fabric covered metallic core, as shown by the crimpedsquared 25 vsection 28. As shown, thebrasssleeves I4 are crimped inplace in such a manner as to con` form to the shape of the ysteelcoreythe ends of which have been previously pressed ina die to a squaredsection. Thus, portions of the sleeves 30 I4 ysurround the cylindricalportion of. the core I0 and may retain the cylindrical shape, as clearlyshown in the drawing. This mayV assist in maintaining the coreconcentric with respect to the sheath. By this method of constructionthe 35 drivetips are tightly secured to the metaillic core and thefabric covering is tightly held in place against unraveling'.

The rotatable core is enclosediwithin a flexible metallic sheath 30which, at its ends, is con-'40 y graphite oil or any other form oflubricant would `50 be suitable. The fabric covering will absorb thelubricant and therefore the shaft will bel properly lubricated withoutusing excessive amounts of grease and oil which may ooze through vrthesheath or joints therein. When the lubricated 55 core rotates within thesheath for a period of time, the fabric impregnated with lubricantbecomes glazed and presents a very smooth surface to the interior ofthesheath, thus friction losses are very low. Moreover, the fabriceffectively prevents a Whirring or rattling noise which is frequentlypresent in flexible shafts of this type in whichza fabric. jacket is notprovided for the metallic core. l i K v The use of a flexiblesl'iaft'asl spec'ically disclosed herein is described in more detail inmy. prior application, Serial No. 692,911, led Oc"` tober 9, 1933,whereinthe core not only. rotates WithinV the sheath but is Vadapted forslidable movement to control a clutch at' one end ofthe flexible shaft.

I claim:

1. A flexible shaft assembly "comprising a kro-` tatable flexible shaftand a non-rotatable flexible l metallic sheath, said rotatable exibleshaft com? prising i a -metallic core with a lubricant-impregnated efabric .covering thereon' andV rotatable therewith.- v 'l I 2, Aflexible shaft assembly comprising a rotatable flexiblel shaft andanon-rotatable'flexible'` metallic sheath, said Arotatable flexible shaftcornprising acore composed of tightly twisted strands of steelwire and atightly Woven lubricant-ini# v pregnated fabric 'coveringl on -saidmetal core and rotatable therewith. T v

3.-A flexible shaft assembly comprisinga nonrotatable flexible-metallic`sheath' and a flexible rotatableshaftfsaid flexible fshaft comprising asteel core and a tightly Woven lubricant-impreg- T natedfabric coveringdrive tips fixed to the ends ofsaid steel core, thefabric covering onsaid steel core extending adjacent -to said drivetips, a pair "thereto,a pair of sleeves through which the end`s-.,'offsaid fabriccovered coreextend, said sleevesy being fixed inposition to hold the fabric in placeby being clampedA to the square Asections of said core adjacent thetips.

5. A flexible shaft assembly comprising a nonrotatable exiblemetallicsheath and a rotatable flexible shaft, the rotatable flexible shaftcomprising a steel core and a lubricant impregnated fabric cover VWovenon saidsteel core, drive and driven tipsfixed directly.v to the ends ofsaid steelcore, thevfabric coveringf'being previously cut away to permitconnection with the coreqand sleeve members receiving the'fabriccoveredco're and fixed thereto to hold the fabric covering inv place atits ends and'prevent unraveling. f 6. lA exibleshaft assemblycomprising-a ex iblerotatable shaft composed of a core of tightlyvtwisted strandsofsteel Wire Vfor transmitting the driving torqueand atightly woven lubricantimpregnated fabric coveringfab'out said tightlytwisted strands and rotatable therewith `and af non-rotatable vflexiblemetallic sheath for housing the lubricant-impregnated fabric coveredmetallic shaft.` Y

